Unauthorized Migration to EU Drops as Bloc Watches Syria Events
(Bloomberg) -- The number of unauthorized arrivals by migrants and asylum seekers into the European Union fell 40% in the first 11 months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, just as fresh turmoil in Syria has sparked concerns about renewed flows.
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There were 220,700 irregular border crossing into the EU between January and November, according to the bloc’s border agency, Frontex, for the period before rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad. Syrians were among the top nationalities for people arriving in Europe, along with people from Afghanistan and Mali.
The EU has sought to take fresh action to stem migration, as voters have increasingly backed far-right and anti-migration parties. Earlier this year, the bloc agreed its Asylum and Migration Pact, a far-reaching package of measures, though it’s only due to be fully implemented in 2026.
This month’s overthrow of Assad has led a number of countries, including Germany and Austria, to suspend processing asylum applications from Syrians.
Austria on Friday said it was offering a €1,000 ($1,049) bonus for refugees willing to return to the country. The proposal is part of an ongoing program that supported 50 Syrian applicants last year, according to Die Presse.
“The country now needs its citizens in order to be rebuilt,” Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on X.
Greece has also paused decisions on new asylum requests until the situation in Syria stabilizes, according to an official, who asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
The government in Athens is monitoring what is happening in the region and is adapting its stance on the migration and refugee issues to the new data at any given time “within the context of the decisions of the European Union institutions,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said in a written statement following the country’s national security council meeting on Friday.
The EU’s new home affairs and migration commissioner, Magnus Brunner, said it’s “difficult to draw concrete conclusions” about the impact of the current situation in Syria on migration but that it would not be possible to force Syrians seeking asylum to return to the country.
“When it comes to returns I think several member states have seen celebrations among the Syrian diaspora all over Europe and to me this speaks for putting a focus on voluntary returns as a first step,” Brunner said Thursday evening at a news conference. “This may be attractive for many Syrians.”
This year’s drop in arrivals was driven by fewer crossings via the Western Balkans and across the Central Mediterranean, Frontex said. However, crossings from Western Africa to the Canary Islands have risen sharply, hitting the highest annual level since at least 2009, when Frontex began to collect the data.
The EU classifies “irregular” border crossings as arrivals, including by boat, that don’t comply with the requirements for legal entry into the EU.
--With assistance from Sotiris Nikas and Marton Eder.
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